When Sherri Bevan Walsh retired in January, she left behind a legacy as the county’s longest-serving prosecutor who prioritized helping victims.
She chose Elliot Kolkovich to continue that work, and in the approximately seven months he’s been in office, he’s already proved to be an effective leader with ambitious ideas.
We want to see where those ideas lead. That’s why we’re endorsing Kolkovich for Summit County prosecutor in the upcoming election.
Kolkovich and his opponent John Greven share some similarities. Both bring significant experience to the table: Greven is a former assistant Summit County prosecutor who has been a prominent criminal defense attorney for 22 years. Kolkovich began his career in the juvenile and criminal divisions in the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office, served a brief stint as an assistant U.S. attorney, then returned to the prosecutor's office as the community outreach prosecutor in 2023.
More: From intern to Summit County prosecutor: How Elliot Kolkovich made it to the top
Both candidates also share a dedication to justice and transparency. They agree that prosecutors need to publicly share their decisions and the reasons behind them. They also agree that owning up to mistakes is crucial as a leader.
Kolkovich and Greven share similar metrics of success, too, agreeing that conviction rates only tell part of the story, and higher rates are not always better.
Instead, they both recognize that prosecutors need to prioritize certain convictions to avoid being bogged down. But how they prioritize them is where they begin to differ.
In our interviews, Greven said he would prioritize convictions by giving more focus to high-level criminal cases while seeking alternative solutions and treatment options for those who commit lower-level crimes.
Kolkovich’s approach is similar but appears to be more nuanced and methodical. Kolkovich said he’s been working to develop principles for how to guide prosecutors through the decision, taking into consideration factors such as criminal history, the victim’s point of view, whether the defendant is actively seeking treatment or help, what is being accomplished by pursuing prosecution and the costs versus benefits of prosecution.
Kolkovich also spoke at length about building relationships and fostering positive interactions with the community, likening his role to the customer service jobs he had as a teen.
“We are giving people what could be their only interaction with the criminal justice system, and that interaction is going to dictate how they feel about the system for the rest of their lives,” Kolkovich said.
Beyond public perception, those relationships can also be vital to solving crimes. Kolkovich provided an example in which a relationship he had fostered made that person comfortable enough to come forward and provide information to law enforcement.
Kolkovich has also shown he can pivot quickly and remain cool under pressure. He has worked to restructure the criminal division of the prosecutor's office after realizing prosecutors had been overburdened by the thousands of hours of police body-cam footage they had to regularly go through. Now, instead of teams of two assigned to each judge, teams of six are assigned to two judges, alleviating the strain on others when a prosecutor takes time off.
We also appreciate that Kolkovich sees his role as not just reactive, but also proactive in preventing people from becoming victims of crimes, continuing the self-defense and scam workshops Bevan Walsh began.
While both candidates are clearly dedicated to preserving justice within the county, we believe Kolkovich is the better leader for this moment — one who can build on the momentum left by his predecessor. His prioritization of people, whether they be employees, victims or criminals, brings an element of humanity so needed in this position.
This piece was written by Akron Beacon Journal Opinion and Community Engagement Editor Theresa Bennett on behalf of the editorial board of the Beacon Journal. Editorials are fact-based assessments of issues of importance to the communities we serve. These are not the opinions of our reporting staff members, who strive for neutrality in their reporting.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Elliot Kolkovich has earned his place as Summit County prosecutor | Endorsement
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